It’s cherry time again and every day we are scrubbing deep, red stains off our fingers (the table and even the walls and doors) – they are plump and juicy and so full of flavour.
This particular dish seemed to be featured on amost every food blog I looked at last year – it reminded me a little of something my grandmother used to make so I made a mental note to try it out next time cherries came back in season.
The quintessential French dessert, with cherries sitting pretty in a pancake-like batter. It is not overly sweet so the light dusting of powdered sugar gives it that little extra something. We had ours straight from the oven, which was around brunch time – perfect!
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
8 tablespoons sugar
1 1⁄4 cups milk
2 tablespoons kirsch
Pinch salt
3⁄4 cup flour
3 cups black cherries, pitted or unpitted (unpitted enhances the cherry flavour)
Icing sugar (confectioners’/powdered sugar)
Preheat oven to 425°. Generously butter a 9″ cast-iron skillet or baking dish. Combine vanilla extract, eggs, sugar, milk, kirsch, and salt in a blender. Blend for a few seconds to mix ingredients, then add flour and blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
Pour batter into your buttered dish/skillet, then distribute cherries evenly over top. Bake until a skewer inserted into batter comes out clean and a golden brown crust has formed on top and bottom of clafoutis, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, dust lightly with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes: If you do not have any kirch on hand, an amaretto or even some dark rum would be a nice substitute. You could aso add a little sprinkling of lemon zest (or limoncello) should you prefer a lemon flavour.
© 2012, Michelle. All rights reserved.
